Purged by Fire
by mjrahabim
Summary: The sequel to Cry for Vengeance...Past and Future catch up with one vampire whose bloodlust has gotten the better of him...Final Chapter Posted
1. The Price of Loyalty

*Author's note: I had a soft spot for Ovelin when I wrote "The Cry for Vengeance." So here is his tale…in his own words…*

Raziel's cry of pain echoed throughout the dark shrine. The pillars themselves seemed to resonate with the pitiful sound. The most beloved of all the lieutenants fell to the stone floor, a new gasp of pain whistling sharply from long forgotten lungs. Kain, satisfied with what he had done, turned away muttering incoherently. Each brother frowned in turn, yet none made a move to help their fallen comrade. They knew better. 

I found myself grinning. I couldn't help but do so when others were in pain. Kain's steel-like gaze found mine and he smiled, barring perfect teeth. Raziel lay in a heap at his feet blood slowly beginning to trickle down into the cracks of the throne room floor. 

Thank the gods for Dumah. If not for his selfish vanity, it might have been sometime before Kain had discovered Raziel's glorious wings (well once glorious anyway). I relished in the selfishness of the Council; they were near equals to Malek and the Serafan. The Serafan had been a wicked group of humans that lived more than a millennia ago, vain and debase, not to mention cruel and totally insane. I thought about them often. It was true, I thought bitterly. History always had a merciless way of repeating itself. 

The Council stood appalled and yet intrigued by what their master had done. Was it true? Had they indeed forgotten where they'd come from? I, on the other hand, had not. I'd had the best of the human world (for what I remembered of it) and now I would have the best of this one. 

At dawn Dumah and Turel dragged Raziel's filthy whimpering carcass to the cliffs of the Abyss. I wondered what he was thinking of as Kain took his time ordering them to toss him in. 

Was he thinking of his female general, Kerfera, waiting for him back at the stronghold? Or was he finally beginning to realize that Kain had never truly cared for him at all. I smiled as they tossed him into the awaiting abyss, glad that I was witness to his revolting screams of pain. 

As the sun began to top the mountains beyond, my master Rahab and I decided it best to head home... home to an abandoned Abby that was slowly but surely filling itself with treacherous water. 

"Ovelin." His voice was cold as ice. One word from his lips spoke thousands. I turned back to him. The voice belonged to Kain the vampiric ruler of a dying world. He was feared and worshipped. He was the oldest living vampire. Maybe that fact was because of his jealous nature that drove him to slaughter every vampire who seemed to be surpassing him. But who was I to point fingers?

Kain approached me, his heavy hoofed feet leaving their marks on the loose gravel. I was not surprised to have noticed this. I found it somewhat amusing that Kain seemed visibly exhausted. "Ovelin." He said again. "So it begins, my vicious friend. Life as we know it will never be the same." I nodded slowly. It never had been. Ever since Kain had desecrated the tombs of the Serafan, Nosgoth was damned. But I, like Kain, cared little for the fate of the world. 

"Are you sure he's dead?" I asked after a long moment. I could still hear the first born of the Lieutenants shrieking in melodic agony. 

"For now." Kain murmured mysteriously. "But you need not concern yourself with him." He looked back toward the cliffs and frowned. "In a month's time I shall call on your assistance." I nodded solemnly, knowing what he meant to do. 

Kain offered great rewards to those that pleased him. And even if it meant murdering my own clan single handedly I would see to it that Kain's will was done. 

I was not sorry for Raziel I realized. In the end he had gotten what he deserved. For all his self-complacency and haughtiness, he had gained nothing except the love of a piteous underling who would soon be as extinct as he was. He had ruled over a degenerate clan that within a month would be wiped from the face of Nosgoth forever. It was up to me to see that they didn't get wind of their impending doom too soon. But for now the sun was filling the sky with murderous intent. I would go home to the Rahabim Abby and wait…

My month was spent in waiting and boredom. I hated to be bored, mostly because if I were bored I had time to think…time to remember…

Fires and Serafan "Holy" warriors and priests littered the Nosgoth landscape. Vampires of all shapes and sizes dangled from long wooden spikes, their agonized wailing drowning out all other sounds. It was an ugly sight, yet oddly beautiful. 

I sat atop a white horse, surveying my handiwork. I was proud of what I had done. Soon, the vampire scourge would be obliterated and Nosgoth would live in peace. Across the hill, I saw the Serafan Sorcerer Priests praying to their gods to give them strength. Sneering I dug my heels into the horse and rode for the castle of William the Just. 

Waiting for me here was the Oracle of Nosgoth. Jumping off my horse I headed for the gallows smiling as I saw another vampire's smoking corpse. The Oracle stood patiently. His eyes, although blind, were watching me intently. "It's nice to see you back so soon, my friend." His voice had a certain whine to it that I did not like. He drawled his words emphasizing each of them. "Tell me…how goes the battle?" 

"The battle, Old Man, is over. The vampires have all but been destroyed. The Serafan pray as we speak." I snorted. 

"Your brother prays for your soul." the Oracle whispered. "Your burning soul…"

"I do not think that my soul shall burn." I snapped. "He can pray all he likes, but prayer does not kill a vampire." 

"Humm…" the Oracle mused. "But your sword will? I should think fire would kill more efficiently."

"You speak of fire too much, Old Man. Say what you mean." I grew tired of his constant prophecies. I had yet to see one come true. William trusted his visions of the future but I did not. 

"It shall be purged by fire." He said calmly, smiling peculiarly. Angered by his apparent attempt to confuse me I grabbed him by the cloak and shook him. His smile only grew broader, obviously proud of himself for getting the better of me. "Death, Ovelin…Purged by fire." 

"Foolish man." I grumbled. Letting go of his cloak, I walked inside the castle where William the Just was waiting for my report….

Finally, I opened my eyes, my memories descending into the depths of darkness from whence they came…


	2. The Time Has Come

A vampire's sleep is not judged by time, but by the rising and setting of the sun. My own sleep was no different. As dusk prevailed over the land of Nosgoth, I awoke with the unsettling feeling that I was not alone. 

"It's about time you woke up." The cackling voice crooned. "I've been waiting for you." I knew whom the voice belonged to long before I saw the fledgling. Gathonel stared at me in the darkness, his eyes gleaming in anticipation. 

Why the annoying fledgling from the Melchiaim clan chose to follow me I would never know. But from the day I'd saved his pathetic life, he had rarely left my side. A fact I found myself regretting at the moment. 

It disgusted me that Gathonel was so extremely ugly. I'd found it unbearable to watch as he stripped the flesh of his prey and donned them like clothing. But, watching the Serafan do more or less the same to their vampiric victims was no better. 

"It's time to feed. " Gathonel was strangely cheerful for one so ugly. I wondered if he even knew how hideous he really was. Glaring at him, I realized his "skin" was rotting. 

"You smell terrible." I snapped, but the fledgling only smiled at me. I did not understand him. No matter what I said to him, he stayed with me. It was a nuisance. I stood and slipped on my cloak, bearing the insignia of my master and creator Rahab, and stepped outside. 

In the distance I could see Rahab approaching. At that moment I remembered my dream and suddenly realized that I had never quite seen the faces of the Serafan. As I stood contemplating this strange fact, Gathonel broke into a run towards my master, his useless skin fluttering in the wind behind him. "Kain!" He shouted. "Lord Kain is with him!" 

I smiled wickedly; my month of waiting was finally over. Kain was coming to give me my orders. "Get away from here, repulsive one." I snarled. He stopped dead in his tracks, his skin slapping his body grotesquely. "I do not wish Kain to see me with the likes of you." I sneered at him. "Feed on your own this night." Whimpering, he slithered off. But not as far as I would have hoped, I could still sense his presence nearby, not to mention smell him. 

Rahab stopped in front of me, his porcelain white skin evident in the moonlight. I bowed to him briefly, more a show for Kain than anything else. 

Kain stepped up behind Rahab and stood still as stone as if tasting the night air. "Tonight is the night." He said at last. "The rain will begin soon. It will aid us in the act." He turned toward the Abby walls and frowned. "Ovelin guards the gate to Raziel's castle. None shall escape and none shall survive." He seemed to taste the air again, another frown flooding his features. "And Ovelin…" He turned toward me his yellow eyes flashing in the darkness. "Get rid of that thing. It reeks." 


	3. Alone in the Silence

The Razlieim screamed with one voice and I could not help but laugh at their pain. The shrieking and wailing was music to my ears. As always, it reminded me of the Serafan Holy Wars. The screams on this night though were mere shadows of what it had been like centuries ago. 

I was not surprised when Raziel's favorite general Kerfera spread her wings and took flight, nor was I surprised when Kain ordered us to let her go. He and I would see to it that she did not escape for long. 

I was surprised, however, when it began to rain and neither my master nor I seemed to be affected by its touch. I thought momentarily of Gathonel and hoped he'd found his way back to Melchia's Bastion before the rains had begun. 

Soon, the screaming stopped and we were alone in the silence. I inspected every nook and cranny and was pleased to find no one alive. But, in Raziel's chamber, I found something I had not seen for millennia or so. It glittered in the darkness. I followed the strange glint to the golden cup and leaned down to pick it up. When my fingers touched the cold metal, I lost control of time and space and remembered…

The mansion was covered in mist from the Termogen Forest. In the early evening light I could barley catch a glimpse it. I presumed it was empty. After all, the Serafan had murdered everyone inside days before. 

I was here to take everything I desired from the old mansion. I had seen objects of silver and gold as my brother and I had fought our way through here and I thought of the magnificent price I could get for them back in Avernus. No one ever need know that they'd once belonged to a vampire family. 

The mansion was still as the grave. I remembered the time when my brother and I had buried our father. The family crypt had been filled with unnatural silence. I felt that same silence in the mansion; it was as if someone or something was waiting for me. 

In the banquet room I found him, heaving like a cow in labor, a wooden stake through his stomach. "Still alive, little vampire?" I asked, my voice cutting through the heavy silence. He looked toward me; his yellow eyes like a serpent's following me. He gave me a snort in reply. "Your family is dead. I don't see their carcasses anymore."

"Murderer." He choked out, his voice deep and angry. "Serafan." I walked closer to him, a hand on my sword. 

"I am what I am, vampire." I told him bluntly. I stood next to the chair he was seated in and noticed the blood that dripped slowly onto the floor below him. 

"And yet you murder my kind for being what they are." He shot back, his face contorting as if every word hurt him. 

"You have no kind. You're kind is a plague that can no longer be tolerated in Nosgoth." I shouted. "You make me sick. The whole wretched lot of you."

"Do we?" His words were like crystal and just as plain. I could still hear him today, just the same. 

It was then that I noticed the chalice, but as I reached for it, the vampire roared and swiped at my arm with his talons, cutting clean to the bone from knuckle to elbow. Even to this day, I bare the scar. 

Angry that a vampire had gotten the better of me, I kicked out, my foot landing squarely on the wooden stake and driving it deeper into his chest. He screamed strangely. The sound was primal in its intensity and shook me to the core of my being. Leaving the chalice where it was, I stumbled out of the mansion my blood leaving a dark and angry trail across the lush carpet. 

Some months later, I discovered that the vampire I had so cruelly mocked and left to die had lived. Malek told me that the vampire's name was Vorador…

I sat the golden goblet on the nearby night stand, catching the faint scent of old blood from within the cup. "Ovelin!" Kain shouted. I turned to him quickly, wondering if he had been able to sense my thoughts. Nodding I pushed thoughts of Vorador and the Serafan away from me. "Find Kerfera. In a days time bring her to the cliffs of the Abyss. I will direct all proceedings from there." 

"And payment, Lord Kain?" I asked with a sneer; I wasn't about to do something for nothing. It was not my way. 

"We shall see, Rahabim…All in due time." I frowned at his answer. Kain had begun to make it a habit of withholding rewards from me. If I were surer of myself I would have challenged this, but I had seen what Kain was capable of when he was angry. I decided to let it go for the time being. I would get what was coming to me in the end, I thought as Kain made his exit spitting rudely on the doorframe. 

In my human life and the younger part of my vampire one I had loved to hunt. But now as the proud and somewhat arrogant adult I had become I had learned the value of waiting for my prey to come to me. I had no doubt that Kerfera would return here looking for her beloved leader Raziel. So here I would remain, lying in wait for her, no matter how much I may condemn myself for not hunting her down later. 

At dawn I was joined by Gathonel, who was full of stories about his nightly adventures. He had a new skin, I noticed with some relief. "Well at least you smell better." I grumbled. Looking around at Raziel's chamber revealed nothing about him in this life or the last. Except for the chalice and a few swords there was nothing of interest. Gathonel continued on with his latest story and I seated myself on the sprawling expanse of the bed, half pretending to listen…

Vorador had come back with a vengeance, angry and indignant. Our war against him had not lasted long. In the end every Serafan Sorcerer Priest was dead with the exception of Malek. I was to be his last victim. Even the Guardians of the Circle of Nine had felt his wrath…

"I saw Kain!" Gathonel shouted suddenly. Shaking myself from my dark thoughts, I turned to the fledgling who was waving his arms and jumping up and down. 

"Not here you didn't." I answered rudely. 

"No, not here. On my way here." He whispered loudly as if someone might be listening. "He was headed toward the Abyss cliffs." 

"You need to rid your mind of foolish notions, young one. Kain has no interest in the Abyss at this point. Aren't you tired of talking yet?" I got to my feet and stormed out of the room, angry for no apparent reason…


	4. The Oracle Pronounces Doom

The war lasted three days and three nights, with my warriors and I heading up the battle. The Serafan Sorcerer Priests stayed behind ever wasting their breaths on prayers to their gods. 

Every night my troops grew weaker and Vorador created new fledglings to die for him. At one point, he'd taken an entire village into his fold. On the last day, I called upon my brothers to help me…

"I worry about you." Gathonel said quietly as the blurry image of my long dead brother faded completely. "Why do you kill for him?" 

I said nothing to this. I had no other answer other than I liked to. Perhaps in the end, that was what had damned me in my human life. Mayhap that's what had driven Rahab to fish my soul from the underworld and breathe vampiric life into me. My bloodlust intrigued so many it seemed. 

"Do you remember your human life, Gathonel?" I questioned. Looking at him I wondered what kind of man he had been. 

"Not really. Sometimes I get a dream or a vision, but nothing I can quite get a grip on." He answered scratching at his "skin". "What about you?" His woeful gaze made me wonder if I should tell him what I knew. Nevertheless I could not risk Kain finding out who I was and what I had once been. I had a feeling that would not sit well with him at all. But, I had to wonder if possibly Kain knew the truth already. I wondered if he knew which of his blasphemous Lieutenants was my brother. Would the very master I served turn out to be the man I had been seeking since my resurrection? 

"Nothing." I told him finally. "I've had dreams like yourself but nothing that tells me about my former self." I lied. A boldfaced one at that.

"Then why did you ask that?" Gathonel was looking around the stone room, his wrinkled fingers drawing thin circles along the wall. 

He did not see my infuriated glare. "An innocent question, ugly one. Something to help pass the time." 

"Time?" A voice not belonging to my offensive companion crooned. "Your time runs short." I closed my eyes and once again remembered…

I stood in the chamber of the Oracle, listening as he told the Serafan Sorcerer Priests of their fate. He looked at each of them in turn, his white eyes blazing impossibly with the image of fire. "The vampires have all but been destroyed and that my dear Serafan shall be your down fall. Malek alone will survive this onslaught, only to pay for his vanity later…yes later." Angrily, I moved forward. I was tired of this old man pronouncing doom. His hand came up and his words stopped me cold. "Ovelin shall be destroyed by his own anger and greed. His actions shall set in motion the events that will loose a monster the likes of which Nosgoth has never seen." My fingers grasped the Old Man's wrist of their own accord and I flung him across the room. He sat staring at me cackling inanely. 

"Are you going to believe this nonsense? He speaks of useless babble and witchery that will never win our battle." I raged. "Every day Vorador creates more of his kind. The filthy beasts rise up anew each night and the seven of you waste time talking to a fool." I found it strange that I could focus on no face but Malek's. 

"It is not a waste of time, Ovelin. The Oracle knows all." Malek shouted at me, looking back at the Old Man who still sat where he'd landed. Smoothing his garments, the Oracle looked very uninterested in what was transpiring. 

"Does he?" I shouted back. "In that case, if you are to die anyway, then die honorably in battle, not listening to this fool." Malek threw up frustrated hands while the rest of the Serafan looked on. Verbal confrontations had become somewhat common placed between Malek and I. "The vampires grow in number, not diminish." I threw my silver helmet at the Old Man. "Stay here and pray to your gods or perhaps play a rousing game of riddles with the Old Man. But as for me and mine, we shall rid this world of the vampire scourge with or without any of you." I stormed towards the door with Malek shouting after me. 

Nevertheless it was the Oracle's cold tone that stopped me a second time. "Death, Ovelin. Purged by fire…" 

Gathonel slapped me hard. "Ovelin! Where are you?" Once again the Serafan faded away from me. 

"How dare you strike me." I roared indignantly. I grabbed the ugly fledgling and tossed him away from me. He landed half in the open doorway where the sun was filtering in predominately. "You touch me again, creature, and you will not like what I do with your flaming carcass." Gathonel sniffled, but I stood my ground. "I should have let those humans kill you." 


	5. The Dark Gift Manifests

Kerfera did not disappoint me and by the next morning she had joined her master at the bottom of the abyss. As I waited for Kain to return to the Sanctuary of the Clans, I had begun to get the overwhelming feeling that I was not alone amongst the pillars. 

"Ovelin…" the female voice resounded off the pillars. My remembrance fluttered and I saw her. Nupraptor's lover…Balance of the Circle of Nine.  

"Ariel." I whispered. Memories flooded my conscience and I could see her so clearly it was almost like she was standing before me, alive and well. But as she floated towards me I saw a new Ariel; one I did not like at all. 

"Has it been so long?" She asked softly. Her beautiful face was nearly gone replaced by the skeletal vagueness of a rotting corpse. 

"Indeed it has, Ariel. Tell me…why do you haunt these woe begotten ruins of a once proud world?" Had time moved so swiftly? Had Ariel been dead so long? 

"Not long after Vorador defeated the Serafan, the Unspoken murdered me and set Kain upon the Circle killing them all…" As I listened Ariel unfolded a tale that laid the fall of Nosgoth squarely on the shoulders of Kain. I was not totally surprised by this. Kain seemed the type to destroy a world single handedly. "You have done a terrible injustice, Ovelin." She ended quietly. 

"He'll be all right." I answered quickly, thinking she meant Gathonel. "I haven't killed him yet." 

"Not the fledgling." She told me. "In this life and the last, it was you who contributed to Nosgoth's downfall. You and your brother…" At her words, I screamed. The sound was primal and evil. The hall echoed the brutal sound eerily. Ariel disappeared.  

"Ovelin," This time it was Kain. "You get more depraved by the night don't you?" He sat on his throne sneering at me. 

"Where is my reward?" I snarled back. I was in no mood to play games. "I've done what you asked of me." 

"So you have." He agreed with a nod. "Your clan will be obtaining a new gift soon. In fact, I've already seen it happening in you and your master." 

"Are you going to throw Rahab in the Abyss for it?" I shot back. "Is that to be my reward?" 

Kain slammed his fists on the arms of the throne. "You should be thankful I told you that much!" He shouted. "Ungrateful cur. Get out of my sight." I weighed my options. I could stay and risk his anger further, picking the wound like the vulture I was. Or, I could lick my own wounds and live another day.

Deciding on the latter I turned and walked toward my home, my head held high, intent on telling Rahab of our upcoming gift…

When I was finished, Rahab said nothing. He sat on the edge of the bell tower and stared over the side. "So, Kain already knows." He said after a long moment of silence. "Somehow I'm not surprised." Standing he beckoned me to follow him down the winding staircase into a room below the tower.

"What new gift, pray tell, would he be referring to then?" I asked raising an eyebrow. I was beginning to get a little ill tempered this evening. I had not fed in days and had not truly rest ither. 

Rahab stopped near the foot of the stairs.  In the short time I had been away, black water had overtaken the last three steps. He kneeled and before I could stop him he plunged his hand into the dark pool. 

I waited, my whole body rigid, but after a few moments nothing happened. Shocked and amazed I watched on as Rahab stepped both feet into the ignominious water. "By the gods…" I murmured.  Rahab laughed at my lack of words and soon the two of us dived in and came up laughing anew unharmed. 

For hours we swam until I had realized that exhaustion was the only thing threatening our existence. I returned to my chambers alone, euphoric. The dark gift (or curse as so many humans of my time had deemed it) could be mastered. Time was all I needed. 

"Time?" The distinctive whine returned to me as if the Oracle stood before me. "Your time is nigh…" 

Side by side the Serafan fought, our enemies falling under our feet. I could feel triumph just with my grasp. "For Nosgoth!" I shouted. But my victory cry was premature. From out of nowhere Vorador appeared, his sharp-toothed sword catching Dumah in the chest and throwing him backward. The battle was at a sudden stand still as we watched on horrified. Whirling around Vorador thrust his sword into Zephon, his eyes catching mine and holding them. 

"Murderer!" He said loudly, jerking the sword from Zephon's wilting body. "Serafan." Zephon dropped to his knees, his body trembling in pain. 

"Vorador." I answered coldly. My sword ready I gave a throaty growl and leapt for him. "Vampire scum!" 

Vorador's sword met mine, sending sparks flying. "Ovelin, no!" The pleading voice belonged to my brother. Turning my head, I still couldn't make out his face. Vorador took that moment and his sword plunged into my arm.  I fell back in surprise tripping over Zephon. He was no longer breathing. 

Turel took my place; he and the vampire scum Vorador battling across the fire lit terrain. My brother knelt next to me, but no matter how much I tired I still could not remember his name or see his face. I couldn't decide what was worse the pain in my arm or my anger.

I leapt up and ran for Vorador intent on his death. In slow motion I saw the vampire's hand go up and a ball, shinning a vibrant green, flew towards me. At the last moment, my own body still frozen in place, Melchia pushed me out of the way and I watched helplessly as the Putrescence spell ate away at his flesh.  Melchia's wailing was short lived. Vorador snarled at me, his yellow eyes gleaming in anger. Then, he turned back to Turel and promptly removed his head. 

"Turel!" Dumah screamed weakly. He forced himself to his feet using his sword to hold him up. Dumah and Turel had been friends since their childhood. Vorador cared about that as much as we had cared about his vampire brides and he didn't bother to stop his attack. Dumah turned to me his own sword protruding from his back, his gasps coming in bloody gurgles. Dumah's body hit the ground with a heavy thud and four of us remained to fight an impossible enemy. 

I swore that Vorador would die before night fell. "Demon!" I cried angrily. 

"I am what I am, Serafan." He told me bluntly...


	6. The Dark Waters Below

The blood didn't flow like it was supposed to; tonight it held a bitter taste like acid. Gathonel was watching me intently. He was skinning his victim even as it lived, ignoring the pitiful cries that rose forth from broken lungs. 

It was funny how much the Melchiaim looked like their master. Without their so-called skins, the vampire clan looked as if their bodies too had been eaten way by that powerful spell. "Melchia tells us that the Rahabim have received a new dark gift." Gathonel said suddenly his words drowning out the human's pleading. I marveled that neither of us cared anymore. This human could have offered us the world and still we would have fed. I, for one, was starving. 

"It does not matter," I told him my mouth full of blood. "Our changes have no effect on your clan." 

"Why are you so bitter? I should think being able to swim in water would please you." He smiled at me brightly. Suddenly, I found the whole situation comical. Gathonel sitting on the floor his face splattered with blood smiling at me. I laughed, for the first time in centuries, I truly laughed. I chuckled until my sides hurt and I was hissing through my teeth. The young vampire was staring at me as if I had lost my mind. 

"I should think that you'd find better things to do with your time than ask me stupid questions." I said at last. "You're an absolute pain, fledgling. You act as is if I was your master. If you knew half the things that I know you would not worship me so." 

"You saved my life, Ovelin. For that I owe you much." Gathonel released his human meal, the fleshless body collapsing to the stone floor with a sickening thud. 

"You owe me nothing, ugly one. I only let you remain here for the amusement you bring to me." I snorted, my words echoing through the empty corridors. 

"Amusement?" Gathonel asked slowly, his voice acquiring an angry tone. "Amusement? Is that what I am to you?" He jumped to his feet, blood dripping from his sharp canines. "I could kill you before you realized what was happening." He was incensed; the aura around him had changed. 

I laughed, feeling my bloodlust rising within me. The fledgling had become a nuisance that I could no longer tolerate. After tonight, that would no longer be a problem. 

In a flash I was on my feet, my talons ripping into the newly fashioned "skin" at Gathonel's throat. He made no sound, but wriggled in my iron grip, his claws tearing violently at my wrists. I carried him down the spiral staircase of the bell tower and made my way to the dark waters below. Even when he realized what I was about to do, Gathonel made no real attempt to stop me. 

Kneeling, I pushed him into the cool water, holding him down. He struggled for a moment then screamed in agony. White smoke rose from his body. I was blind with my rage as I let go of the repulsive fledgling's body and turned to leave. 

"I don't hate you…" Gathonel whispered, his words mired with water and pain. He got to his feet still smoking, his body shaking. "You are blind and cannot see your future." 

Turning back, I opened my mouth to scream at him and a strange glowing blue ball of energy flew out and knocked the malodorous creature back into the water where he moved no more…


	7. Piece of the Puzzle

I felt guilty. How could I not? I'd befriended the hapless vampire, given him security and given him everything he needed to survive. Then, without mercy I had cruelly ended his life. 

I swam through the mote of Melchia's Bastion and wondered if I could bring Gathonel's soul back from the underworld. But even though I was a Rahabim General, I did not have the strength or power. If I asked Rahab he'd only question my logic and I in turn would do the same to myself. Beside that, questioning my logic was beginning to become lethal. My guilt was agony. He'd done nothing to me other than try my patience. But then, I'd never had any it seemed…

Without meaning to, I'd lead Vorador right to the Serafan Sorcerer Priests. I realized this as the four of us squared off against him. In my hatred for vampires I'd sought to destroy him and thus I'd orchestrated death for us all. 

Vorador stared at me his eyes glowed a hateful red. "Tonight, Serafan, you die." I stood next to Malek and held out my sword; the sliver gleamed in the firelight. 

"Not likely," Malek told him gruffly. "It is you who shall return to hell." 

"Hell?" Vorador roared. "You know nothing of hell." Who was I to tell him he was wrong? I supposed being a vampire he'd already been there. With my brother and the remaining Serafan at my side, I swore that he would return there shortly. Yet in all my days as a Serafan Warrior, I had never seen a vampire so resilient or so thirsty for blood and revenge. 

"Leave them, Vorador." I said after a long moment of nervous tension. "It's me you want to kill." 

His cold laughter cut through me like a knife. "Not so human. I will kill you all." He pointed his twisted sword at each of us in turn. 

Rage consumed me. Before thinking I jumped at him, our swords once again meeting in a shower of sparks. "You will not get the chance demon!" I ground out. He laughed harshly. 

"Ovelin don't!" My brother shouted out. I'd begun to recognize his voice but nothing else was coming clear. This time his words made me furious. Suddenly, Rahab dived at me and we both tumbled to the ground Vorador's blade imbedding itself into Rahab's side. 

"Run!" Rahab coughed. "Ovelin, run." Blood dripped from the edge of his lips and he laid back all at once still. Not knowing why, I stood up and ran Malek and my brother right behind me. Vorador laughed a third time. 

"Run, sheep. I shall find you." 

I lifted myself from the moat and walked on heading for Nupraptor's Retreat. Here I would find the missing piece of the puzzle and remember my brother. Perhaps once I did remember I could convince Rahab to retrieve his soul from the underworld. Once he was reborn I would use him to remind the vampire Lieutenants of who they once were and in turn use them to all to over throw Kain. 

I would be the Lord of Nosgoth soon and only then would my quest for the best of both lives be complete… 

Our breath came in white puffs, the air outside the caves of Nupraptor's Keep freezing us to the bone. "This is your fault." Malek whispered lethally. "You and your stupid, 'Let's rid the world of vampires'. You and your, 'Don't listen to the foolish old man'. Don't you see Ovelin? The Oracle was right." Malek threw a fist at me, but my brother caught it easily. 

"Yelling about it now will do nothing." He barked. 

"Fool. Our Serafan brothers are dead and we are hiding." I growled. "We should be murdering Vorador. Not hiding." 

"Then you fight him, Ovelin. I will not waste my time on one vampire." Malek threw up an agitated hand. 

"After he murdered your comrades, you have the gall to sit there and say that?" I shouted. Angrily I shoved him not realizing how close he was to the edge. He stumbled backward and fell tumbling into the water below. 

My brother stared at me incredulously. "What have you done?" I could see his face clearly for the first time. The memory faded and I found myself screaming... Pure anger flooded through me. I could not remember his name. 

The fallen skull of Nupraptor's Retreat lay before me. Kain had fought his first battle as a vampire here. Perhaps this would be where I fought my last. It had been in one life anyway…


	8. A Pox on Destiny

"Shut up," I growled at my brother. "We have no time for foolishness. We must kill Vorador before he kills us." 

"But it is our destiny…" He argued. 

"A pox on our destiny. We will destroy him." 

"You have such audacity to think so?" He shot back, breathless. 

"You have the audacity to believe that old fool. I have the audacity to destroy Vorador." I snapped. 

"If the Oracle says we shall die then…" 

"Raziel!" I shouted. "There is no such thing as destiny. Now either help me or wait for that vampire to kill you." Raziel said nothing in return but followed me out of the twisting caves and towards the nearest village. 

We were at the gates to Vasserbunde when Vorador appeared. "I'm surprised Serafan would run. I was under the impression that you were the bravest of them all." He said, his laugh mocking. "You fall easily." 

"That may be so, vampire, but you shall fall quick enough." I spit at his feet. 

"And you…their loyal dog." He took his sword and pointed it at my chest. 

"I am loyal only to myself." I sneered shoving the sword aside. Stealthily, I reached for mine. 

"Ovelin…" Raziel warned. He yanked out his sword and threw himself at the green skinned monster. The two fought with a ferocity I'd never seen. I could think of nothing but victory as my brother pushed the vampire into the waters surrounding Nupraptor's caves. 

"You did it!" I shouted in triumph. "We are free of the vampire scourge!" Raziel turned to me smiling, but once again, my celebration was premature.

"Perhaps your were right broth…" His words were cut short as Vorador's sword protruded from his chest. 

"NO!" I screamed my words from the past echoing off the surrounding canyons. 

So, Raziel was my brother? Kain's elite, first-born Lieutenant? My brother condemned for his wings, dead at the bottom of the Abyss. 

He was not my brother in this life but even so my plan to reveal the past to Kain's Lieutenants had failed. I would need to find another way to reveal the past and better my future. How difficult could it be to remind the Serafan of who they were and then manipulate them to kill Kain? There was no one to argue this point or stand in my way. 

"Ovelin." His voice was a gurgling whisper. I knew whom the voice belonged to long before I saw the fledgling. I turned, a cold chill sweeping over me. 

There he stood, barely recognizable with his smoldering flesh. Gathonel's breath came out in watery gasps. He was broader and didn't seem to care about his appearance. He held a silver staff with a skull on the top of it, trimmed in gold. "I was betrayed by my master." He said. "Betrayed and murdered." 

"Murdered? You don't look dead to me." I answered coldly. "You smell terrible." 

"I do not have time to talk." He still sounded as if he were underwater. "I am here to pay for services rendered." 


	9. For All My Bravado

"Services rendered?"

"I'm going to kill you." He answered my question simply. 

"You? Kill me?" I laughed a little too loudly. "I hardly think so, fledgling, have you forgotten who saved you from those humans?" 

"You were human once, Ovelin. A Serafan Warrior no less." I stared at him unbelievingly. How had he known? I would have to kill him again and make sure he was dead this time. I could not have a vengeful upstart ruining my chances of ruling Nosgoth. 

Gathonel swung the silver staff around, a swordsman's grace in the move. I snarled, barring my teeth. I needed no weapon to destroy this little nuisance. 

Closing my eyes, I saw Vorador in his movements. That royal arrogance was all around him. 

Before I could react, Gathonel shoved the staff into my stomach. I convulsed as I saw Vorador's wicked grin. "Master." He whispered softly. My vision was hazy. 

"I am not your master." I ground out, grabbing for the distorted vampire with my talons. 

"Yes you were." He told me, shoving the makeshift sword and me into the canyon side. "You saved me from death and I swore to serve you always." 

"But now you desire to kill me?" I coughed. The pain was dull but aggravating.

"I know you, Ovelin." Gathonel turned away from me, gathering splinted pieces of timber…

"I know you, Ovelin." Vorador said, stepping over the body of my fallen brother. "You and I are kindred, killing those who stand in our way. You dream of bathing in the blood if your victims. I do." I stared at him, unable to speak. "You and I could make powerful allies…two vampires ruling the world. We could kill them all. You'd like that wouldn't you Serafan?" 

"You disgust me." I shouted, my sword held high. 

"Join me." He said undeterred. 

"I'd rather gnaw off my own arm!" I advanced on him. "Fight me coward." 

"Coward? I am not the one hiding behind my brothers." 

"You can not, simply because I disposed of yours." I screamed at him. Vorador lunged for me, the two of us tumbling through the gates to the village. His claws dug into my face, chest, and sides but somehow my sword missed him. 

Finally, I broke free and ran, tearing through the town, the devil on my heels…

  
Gathonel was setting the timbers ablaze and as I watched, I remembered…

I reached a house. The doorway stood blessedly open and I plunged inside, bolting the door behind me. I knew this would not hold for long. For all my bravado in the Oracle's presence I had proved to be a coward. If only the Serafan Priests could have seen me then. 

I stumbled to the center of the room and choked on a cry of fear. There had to be another way out. This village was famous for its underground passageways between houses. My frantic search of the room did indeed reveal a door...

Gathonel kicked at the staff and I caught my breath the pain intense for one unbearable moment. "I did not deserve what you did to me. I did not deserve this." He said pitifully. "Look at me." 

"I am." I taunted unwisely. "You are even more hideous than ever, ugly one." Gathonel screamed at me, the sound heinous and unnatural. When the fire began, I could feel its heat and it made me angry. Gathonel stoked the fire and it burned brighter responding to his coaxing. 

He stared at me across the firelight, coal black eyes gleaming with resolution. I laughed feeling my bloodlust rise within me. "You think you can kill me, Gathonel? Are you brave enough?"

"Death Ovelin. Purged by fire." The words hit me like a physical wound and slowly I realized what the Oracle had meant all those years ago. I was condemned not only in this life, but also the last…to die by fire…

I fought with all my might to open the heavy door on the floor below me when I first caught the hint of smoke. Looking up I found the thatch roof engulfed in flames. Desperate now I threw my weight into yanking the door open. 

"I will not die like this." I screamed. "I cannot die like this!" Finally, the door opened up and I leaped below. I stood there a moment trying to catch my breath, when the floor above me collapsed, trapping me. 

As the last of my breath left me I heard Vorador laughing and I was enraged that the foolish old man hadn't been so foolish after all. He was right from the very beginning…

Now as Gathonel jerked me from the canyon wall and shoved me into his makeshift bonfire I realized that I had always been a coward and a fool. And for that, I would pay…purged by fire for the second time….


	10. Laughter from the Past

Epilogue: 

Gathonel stood watching his former master and friend, anger spreading over him anew. They would all pay for what they had done to him. They would all pay for what he was. Just as Ovelin had paid for twisting his already hideous form beyond repair. 

Lord Kain would also pay dearly for creating such offensive creatures like himself…His greed and arrogance had corrupted an entire generation. Gathonel swore that he would make them all pay…

Laughter sounded all around him, the heinous cackling unfamiliar. But somehow, the cackling was consoling, as if it had once belonged to someone very close to him. It was as if something from his past was calling him to remember…

THE END 

**************************************************************************************

Stay tuned for the last story in this saga…featuring Gathonel's own twisted tale of selfishness entitled… "All My Sins Remembered"…. (Coming in one week. Please make sure and read it!!!) : D

**************************************************************************************


End file.
